Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-12-17
LETTERS GONE ASTRAY.
WORK or THE INSPECTORS DE-
PARTMENT OF THE POSTOFFlcE.n


Which the Utmost Secrecy Is Observed.
The Detectives.
There are in the state Of New York 3,2c5
postoffices. and every man connected with
them is made to walk particularly straight
line by a quiet and unassuming gentleman,
who sits in front of little desk all day in
little room on the fourth story of the big post
Office building This gentleman is Charles
E. DoSser, and he is the inspector in charge
of the postal system in this state. During
last month he received over 2,000 complaints
from as many different persons Some of
these charge neglect in the handling of mail,
some ''unaccountable delay some inciyility
on the part of employees, and few thought
there was some dishonest person somewhere
in the employ of the department. The first
thing done with complaint is to carefully
make an entry of its character, and then to
docket it and place it under one of the four
heads. If the complaint charges loss of
registered matter, or any irregularity in its
delivery, it is known as an "An case.
The same complaint in reference to any
ordinary matter is ''B" case
A "Cn case is any trouble with the lease of
building in which postoffice is located any
COllptdlHt IL pOSllllstSttI, Vi u SliSpl-
cion that the mail is being used for forward
ing any fraudulent or obscene matter
An "F" case is one referring to foreign
mails.
If letter is lost and there is no reason to
believe that it has been stolen, the investiga-
ton is open and the case is soon cleared up,
for everybody is invited to help the inspector.
The investigation begins in the postoffce in
which the letter was mailed. Then the exact
time that it should have been started upon its
journey is learned by discovering from the
sender the time it was mailed. Then the
minute it should have arrived at the post
office nearest its destination is known, and
the force of men on duty in the postofiice at
that time are questioned until the particular
man who handled the bag in which the letter
was sent is concerned. First his memory is
taxed to see if he has any recollection of it.
If he hasn't, and he very seldom has unless
there is something peculiar about it, the car
rier who should have delivered it is ques-
toned next. 1t sometimes happens that a
person fails to receive a letter because it has
been mislaid by somebody in his employ or
by some member of his household. If the
fault is that of an employee, the latter very
promptly lies about it, perhaps, and the work
of investigation goes merrily on until the in
spectors are sure either that the matter can
not be cleared up or that the postofice sys-
tenn is not to blame.
Ii the complaint charges the loss of money
or any valuable article, the utmost secrecy is
observed. If q letter containing money is
sent from Kingston to this city, the inspector
goes quietly to Kingston and finds the person
who sent it. He learns from him the exact
time the letter was dropped in the postoffice
tbara Ia fo fbiS cifx bn -,
formation, and discovers just what tour of
men were ON duty when it arrived There
are three tours, the men in one working from
o'clock until 5, another from 5 till /, and
the third from l till g. Having learned the
tour, he makes himself familiar with the
character of every man in it. His suspicious
fall upon one man. and then care must be
taken that this person remain i'll fancied
security. The Inspector works all around
him, but never approaches him. He watches
him day and night, and dogs his footsteps
until he is sure that the man is either guilty
or innocent. If he is sure of the former, the
man is soon prisoner; if of the latter, the
man is dropped and the carrier whose duty it
was to deliver the letter is next placed under
surveillance.
A short time ago large business house in
'ais city complained that portion Of their
dali was frequently lost. The work of in
vestigating this case was begun at the store
of the firm, because the letters that had been
lost were mailed at different points. The let
tiers were dropped into an iron box by the
| carrier, and an employee of the firm used to
| unlock the box and carry the mail to the
office. The man in the main postoffice who
sorted out the letters was ordered to keep an
account of how many letters arrived for this
i
all Ithe envelopes and return them to the
office of the inspector. The numbers did not
tally, and watch was set upon the carrier
The moment he was out of sight after drop
ping the letters into the box the box was
opened, and after the letters were counted
they were returned to the box. The letters
delivered to the firm by their employee did
not agree with this number either, and the
firm said that they were satisfied the fault
was not with the postoffice authorities and
that they would look after the thief them
selves.
A novelty firm in Connecticut complained
that they were losing trifling sums of money
that were sent them from this city for samples
of their goods. Dozens of letters kept going
astray, and, as the number seemed to be in
creasing, an earnest effort was made to dis
cover the guilty persons. After several days
of hard work the thieves were discovered in
what is known as the pouch room" This is
where the letters are placed in the big bags
for transmission to their destination.
MIR. Dosser referred to a case in Brooklyn
that was cleared up recently. The thief said
that he was caught just as he had made up
his mind to stop stealing. This is said by
nearly everybody who is caught" said Mr..
Dosser. "There are five inspectors in this
state, and the work of clearing up complaints
is only a fragment OF what they have TO do.
They have TO visit all the postoffices in the
state, inspect the accounts of each, and sec
that everything is in straight working order.
The men under me are for the most part OK
perienced detectives If | need the services
of a man who is not known to any man in
| this office | send on TO Washington and